Alpha vs Alpha Read online

  “Guess there’s no other choice for now. I do want to see the facility, see how things are run. Later, much later. Go on about Blade.”

  Saba folded her arms beneath her small breasts and leaned a meaty hip against the counter. “He’s not the type of man who allows every Joe Blow to get emotionally close to him. We’re the only ones, so far. You’ll have to ask Raleigh and Drake their stories. They’ve been with him longer.

  “I met Blade in Rio de Janeiro, my homeland, fourteen years ago. I was what Americans called a two-bit ho.” She laughed out loud then sobered. “Problem was sometimes I’d kill my johns and steal their money. I did manage to keep the killing at a minimum. Unless they tried to rough me up. To make a long story short, Blade found me one night. The jaguar was feeding from a trashcan. Me, eating rotten garbage! Enough to make me barf thinking about it. Anyway, he took me off the streets, made me a better person, and we stuck it out through good and bad. We’re good buddies for the duration. Now Blade has you.” She smiled. Genuine. “Be good to him, Hamm. He’s got a big heart and a lot of stored love. For you if you want it.”

  She had no idea how much the simple statement meant to me. Blade and I had a long life together if we survived this one night. And I was determined to make it happen. “Do we have any lube around here?”

  She stared back quizzically. The look on her face was beyond me. “Frankly, I don’t think it’ll be necessary.”

  Sure. I didn’t want to hurt Blade. Or piss him off with pain. I paraded around with one staggering erection every twenty-eight days.

  When Drake rolled in a metal tray stacked with raw meats, Saba said, “It’s still early and Blade’s not doing well at all.”

  Yeah, I’d been listening to his raucous rants. Not that I could block the screeching noises out of my mind when the next horrific howl rocked the kitchen, rattling anything metal. Jesus God. Somehow, I knew he’d called my name. Not called, wailed. Did anyone else recognize the same? Did it matter? Not to me. “We’d better get going. He needs me.”

  Drake covered his ears with both hands. “I think you’re making a huge mistake. He belongs in the downstairs wing, behind silver bars. The motherfucker’s—”

  Good and hard, I slammed my fist into his face, loosening teeth, cracking a few bones. Drake went down flat on his back, then he crab-crawled across the tiles, bleeding from the mouth and nose, panting, eyes wild with stark terror. He deserved every bit of my wrath. I’d wanted to kick the shit out of Drake from the first day I’d met the idiot. Yesterday.

  “Don't you ever talk about your Alpha like that again. Next time—and you’d better hope to hell that day never arrives—I will fuck you up!”

  Raleigh and Saba clapped slow and loudly. Had Drake been Blade’s beta, he might’ve tried to stand his ground or, at least, threaten his non-supporters. The low-life omega crawled from the room.

  Using silver to kill wolf shifters was about as big a myth as vampires bursting into flames the moment sunshine touched them. Sure, sunrays burned the hell out of their unprotected pale skin. UV rays also depleted their energy levels, their strength, and their power to manipulate the minds of others. If exposed to direct sunlight too long, the damage was permanent. But vamps simply liked the cover of darkness to hide their violence from prying eyes. Bloodsuckers needed rest, too, or their undead bodies weakened and began to breakdown. It just so happened that after a long night of carousing and draining blood, they slept during daylight, satiated. Slept coma-like after consuming heavy meals. Don’t mammals all do the same, whether night- or daytime?

  Silver weakens a wolf-shifter’s strength and when a bullet enters the flesh, they suffer significant pain and burning until the metal’s removed or expelled. On the other hand, we live longer than humans’ lifespan, but we die like all animals if silver pierces the brain or heart, charring both fragile entities to ash during a slow, painful death.

  I saw the jail where Blade had been kept once every four weeks when he was in town. Windowless. Soundproof. Solitary confinement a full story below the surface, surrounded by reinforced steel and cement three-feet deep, embedded with silver balls. A cruel way to live for one night, unnecessary punishment using silver-laced bars. I’d touched one. It burned worse than dry ice. Harsh discipline, in my opinion. The dungeon was substandard living space compared to the master bedroom, only one way in and one way out. Electronic with reinforced silver and steel, iron gates barred entrance and exit to the bedroom’s terrace. I had a key to those and the bedroom door. I couldn’t allow him to break the interior one down.

  “Did you know Blade designed this place?” Saba asked. “Including the lower level.”

  What? “He designed the dungeon?”

  She nodded slowly. “He said it looked worse back then.”

  I could only imagine. It also meant that he had insisted on incarceration.

  “Blade,” she said and thought a moment. “I guess the best way to state this is—he acquired the land and has owned it…forever, I think. He built what is now called Valley Resort Spa sometime around 1950. Naturally, it’s been renovated over the years as you can tell. He kept some of the old features intact, stuff like fireplaces and exterior stone. It’s got to be worth millions nowadays, but he’d never sell.”

  Who could blame him? He’d grown solid roots here. If everything went as planned, our roots would intermingle.

  “I’m glad.” I really was. Valley Resort was incredibly beautiful. “Look, let’s get this show on the road. I got a hot date I’m anxious to get to.”

  “One more thing,” Saba said then hesitated. “Never mind. You’ll do fine with him.”

  Hmm. I wondered what Saba meant as she, Raleigh, and I pushed the carts toward a new realm. I didn’t have a sense of doom. Then again, my nerves were a tad frayed around the edges. After all, Blade was going out of his ever-Were mind, temporarily.

  I grew more concerned by the seconds. We hadn’t heard a sound since turning down the long hallway. He knew we were coming.

  Dragging in a stabilizing breath, I unlocked the bedroom doors. Waited.

  “Open the damn thing,” Raleigh snapped, his hands busily scratching his scalp down to the nape and all around his neck. “What the hell are you waiting on?”

  I didn’t know. “Nothing,” I replied, nudging one ten-footer open about a foot.

  “Oh, hell. Hamm, did you turn off the lights?” Saba asked quietly.

  “Uh, no.”

  The room would be pitch-black if not for the moon’s glow through terrace doors and two skylights. It looked empty, except a ferocious growl, coming from somewhere in the mega-sized room, stated otherwise. Still inhabited. The terrace doors were intact. Good. Good. The drapes and sheer curtains hadn’t faired so well. Wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling fabrics had been shredded. To allow the moon’s incandescence to filter inside?

  “Brace yourselves,” I ordered. I didn’t know what we could do if the werewolf charged us.

  I pushed on the door, but something blocked it from opening. Shit. If Blade had mutated to Were skin, we were dead. I pressed my index finger to my lips, signaling my companions to keep quiet.

  On cue, Saba and Raleigh sprouted claws and fangs.

  I shoved the door harder and it gave several inches. With relief, I discovered Blade was not on the other side. A pile of shiny fabrics had been stashed there. Bedding? Luckily, this side of the dual king bed was uninhabited.

  “Come on. Let's get these carts inside.”

  The next horrific snarl raised the hair on the back of my neck. Maybe it came from the en suite bath. Yup. Sure enough, a gleaming gold eye peered around the corner. Half of its face. Ear flattened. Bared fangs. Raised hackles. Tail fluffed. In wolf skin. A magnificent creature, bigger than I remembered. He ducked back around the corner.

  “Get out. Now. Go somewhere safe.” And the safest place was probably the dungeon if Saba decided to stay in the building. Raleigh, I knew, planned to join the powwow some distance away. The mansion was ful
ly gated, I assumed spiked with silver.

  They wasted little time leaving. I shut the door, locked it.

  In no hurry, showing my inherent bravery, I strode toward the nearby dresser. I’d left the top drawer partially open and dropped the keys inside, closed it softly. I’d alerted the jaguar early on to their location, in case a calamitous event occurred. I didn’t think an unfortunate episode would take place, but no one could predict the future. I kept telling myself to be calm. My soon-to-be mate surely wouldn’t chance ripping my throat out or gutting me, that is, if his mind hadn’t slipped too far outside reality.

  “Blade?” I said in an even tone. “It’s me. Hamm.”

  He gave no indication he understood, made no sound. Then, his muzzle stuck out a bit from behind the wall, long tongue hanging and dripping as if he’d run halfway across the state of Colorado after I’d left the room.

  Leaping at the drapes must have caused the heavy panting. Of course, the chaise lounge had been tipped over, bedside table shoved near the terrace doors. The bed was stripped of its satin comforter and top sheet. Fitted, the bottom sheet looked similar to the drapes—frayed. The deep mattress was askew, hung halfway off the box springs and elevated bed. Pillows were de-feathered and flat. Goose down speckled the hardwood floors, some scattered, some heaped into messy piles all around the room. I grimaced. One might say he was somewhat miffed by the confinement. And abandonment.

  I stepped around the bed, edging closer. “I brought food to last us overnight. Plenty of water to wash it down. Saba forced veggies on us. Are you hungry?”

  Crouching, he growled low, threatening. Ears flat against his skull and muzzle wrinkled, he showed a gang of teeth again, tongue flickering out. Damn, he was big. This wasn’t looking good for me. In my wolf form, I imagine I looked pretty intimidating to humans.

  “Would it help if I shifted, put us on the same animal level?”

  Blade tipped his head to one side. When his ears perked up, I knew he understood. He inched forward, planted his haunches on the bedside’s thick runner, panting. Good sign. Before I shifted, my jeans—the only article of clothing I wore—disappeared.

  Squinting at the wolf, I said, “We really need to talk about this.”

  I shifted, shook out my fur from head to tail, felt wonderfully free.

  Blade stared at me for a full minute, his nose twitching. I blinked but otherwise didn’t flex a muscle.

  He stood on all fours, long tail straight up in the air, fluffed. Could be another good omen. Could be a bad one.

  Tentative, he came closer until his wet nose touched mine, then his long tongue swiped across my snout. Oh, yeah. We were good to go. I licked back and, instantly, a composite of our mating pheromones charged the air.

  The big bad wolf tiptoed around to my side. The first lick and my cock shot out, stone-hard and leaking. The next sensuous enticements had the cockhead expanding, bobbing toward the floor. But it was his gentle nip that earned my growled approval

  I reciprocated the tantalizing gestures with an added swipe across his puckered bootie, wanting some of that soon after mounting him. Blade wasn’t the only wolf feeling the full moon’s effect. Horny for weeks, calling out my name only punctuated my need for him. I would not be denied.

  He continued around me, sniffing and licking, rubbing, ensuring his scent saturated my fur. When he returned to my front, he dropped to the rug, bootie facing me, and yipped like a wolf cub. Or a female in heat.

  Jealousy swam through my psyche. Another male? Another wolf? I tamped down the sentiment. No one besides me would ever enjoy Blade’s body again.

  Finally. Finally mate consummation.

  And mount I did. No preamble. I crouched over his back. The first thrust was hard and fast, to the hilt, sheathing inside his tight channel filled with silken heat. Felt so damn good to my cock.

  Canines never differed. Blade caterwauled, then growled and snarled, even tried to nail my muzzle with dagger-like fangs. I sank my teeth into his scruff, returned a vicious-sounding rumble, and held him immobile while I continued ramming my swelling cock inside him. I was ravenous, on a diabolical rampage.

  Relaxing and settling down to my rhythm took Blade longer than a minute, longer than it should have. Sure, I knew that few other wolf dicks rivaled the size of mine.

  At first he fought to get away, but no doubt about it, he enjoyed deep, penetrating strokes. Blade raised his haunches higher, his tightness gripping and pulling at my cock. He rocked back a little to meet each of my thrusts, his tail delicately caressing my sensitive balls. The teasing sensation amplified the craving I had for Blade. I increased the speed of my thrusts then held still, allowing him to feel every pulsating, thick inch of me. Blade’s stark, low growl proved he liked my techniques, guaranteeing he wanted more.

  The scent of our arousals, the heat of our bodies, and the full moon, we were well on our way out of orbit. I released his scruff, then licked the bloodied wounds, loved the taste of him, loved the effect his blood had on my senses. Shimmering with need. Stimulated by an instant, growing love. I nibbled his fluffy ears, encouraging him to peak, while my haunches stayed in perpetual motion. Fast. Hard. Unrelenting.

  At some point soon, the head of my cock would blossom like a bulbous mushroom and we’d lock together, howling while I flooded his ass with my seed, mark him as mine. Marking him as my mate. If I’d had hands instead of paws, I’d work his cock into spewing his hot seed across the carpet runner and floor.

  Afterward, I’d need five minutes or less before pulling out. The next round, immediate. I’ve never lost a hard-on during full moons and we had all night. I planned to fuck Blade until he couldn’t see straight, until he couldn’t stand, whether in wolf or human skin. And I would fuck him as a human, hard while he stared into my eyes.

  My cockhead expanded, throbbed. Throwing my head back, I howled like a banshee as release drained me of every glorious ounce of cum I owned over many seconds. And collapsed, my front paws spread, snout balanced on Blade’s furry head.

  Locked together.

  8

  When my cockhead finally deflated and I was able to pull out and stand, Blade scampered out from under me. To my damn surprise, the floor was dry as bone! Come to think about it, I didn’t hear him howl or whimper or yip.

  So now, he decided to turn on me, growling the usual menacing hell. Was it my damn fault he didn’t bust one?

  I think not.

  The fight didn’t last long, more bluster and noise than anything.

  Agile and fast, I pinned the wolf to the floor again. And started from the top. My dick was staggering this time, hung like a horse, and I took full control of Blade, caught the scruff of his neck, and shook him once, then shook him a second time. He whined, yipped, moaned at my authoritative domination, and my pillaging strokes. Too bad. He would have to endure a lot more as the night progressed. I savagely plowed onward.

  Shortly before the moon reached its pinnacle, Blade still had not climaxed, which ticked me off to no end. Kind of made me feel inadequate; I’d always gotten my partners off.

  I’d quit counting the orgasms I’d had, I was far from finished with my mate. Then, I noticed a change in Blade’s ferociousness. The fights we had after every session had petered off. He sought refuge. From me! I dragged his ass out from under the bed by the tail the last time. Blade yelped. Disarming, his hazel, puppy dog eyes about did me in. Gone were the glowing lasers and bared fangs. Submissiveness was so unlike him. I fucked him like there was no tomorrow.

  After a great session, and as he shifted back to human, so did I. Blade faced away from me on the carpet runner, panting, shivering, his backside plastered to my front, the moon shining brightly on us through the skylight. His body was heated, damp with sweat. The shivering was caused by something altogether different.

  “Hey. Did I hurt you?” I whispered, stroking my hand down his muscled arm. No answer. “C’mon, Blade, yes or no.”

  “A little.”

  Damn
. With females, I usually held back from punishing fucks unless they were into domination. That is, dominating me. Guys loved a good, hard fuck once they got used to my size and too much time had passed between sessions. In my case, too damn much time had elapsed for my lonely dick. Restraint wasn’t prearranged for tonight’s fest.

  I pushed off the floor. In the bathroom, while I washed myself, I filled a porcelain basin with warm, soapy water, and found a clean washcloth. I went back to Blade, snuggled close.

  “Should I back off?” I didn’t want to back off as horny as I was. My body screamed for his, cock inflated, hard, and ready for the next round.

  I started on his shoulders. At first he tensed, then relaxed as I ran the cloth over his flesh down to his semi-erect cock.

  From the beginning, I thought Blade was in for the long haul. Gut feeling told me he could not shift to Were if I kept at it, if I fucked him silly, if I kept his mind on sex and what I was doing to his body and mind. I sensed he was fighting against the transformation too. We worked well together dealing with problems and responding to stimuli and each other. Always would. An undeniable chemistry tethered us as mates. After tonight, I didn’t think I’d ever get enough of him in the coming years.

  When he left my question unanswered, I said, “Turn over and look at me, babe. I can’t take it when you ignore me.” I licked the shell of his ear, then nipped the lobe and ground my cock against his ass.

  Blade inched away. For the first time, I took real notice of the design tattooed on his back. It was not fire at all. Instead, a fluffy tail. A symbol of his heritage? I ran my fingers down the curled imprint that felt embedded rather than inked, and a harsh quaking raced through Blade.

  Scooting closer, I forced him to face me, needing to feel his body against mine, where he was supposed to be, where he fit so well. I fisted a hand in his glossy mane and planted a gentle, enticing kiss on his lips. No tongue. Funny how kissing had become a part of intimacy for me. I never thought I’d want to kiss anyone. No one but Blade from here on.